half a gram per/watt rule

Desr

Well-Known Member
The following is a direct quote from the details on Amazon.
  • THE MOST SIMILAR LIGHT TO SUNSHINE: this grow light simulates solar spectrum by increasing yellow and green lights, buy a sun indoor for your plants
green light is pretty inefficient, i wonder why theyre making this claim. yeah plants dont "see" it, or use it, they reflect it and its not "used" by chlorophyll, but photosynthesis yadda yadda yadda. for 70 bucks it seems like a sweet deal, for 300 watts, but keep in mind 150 w cfls, things like that. i just like to look at all angles before a purchase. if its one thing i can pass on to newer growers is buying smart!
 

bgmike8

Well-Known Member
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01HI3AFYM/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_86_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9H8K10FBJCTHYTR39072 someone in another thread is using this and seems to he getting good results does this fit the correct req thats not blurple? Also in NM.. Okay so if its hid over led then what would be best for my situation? Currently using a temp box which ima replace asap but its 4x2x6 but gonna replace it with a 3x3x? If not maybe smaller for 2-4 plants probably just 2 plants but haven't decided yet if im going to replace it with a Tent or stealth box so I wanna get stuff thats will be optimal if not best for the 3x3x? Or smaller But ofc use it in the current box for now
personally I would use a 600 convertible. ventable. cool tube preferred .

You will have to deal with the heat. right now my ambient temp is like 65 and I vent 2 600 watts away from the grow area and I'm at 76 to 78 degrees which is fine.

Summer is a different story. so it's gonna depend on your ambient temp. if you have conditioned air you should be okay
 

Desr

Well-Known Member
money spent on a good HID light/ballast, inline fan and cool tube> LED

and cheaper for the most part lol

and yeah always prepare for summer. before youre taping ice packs to box fans and shit :idea:
 

bgmike8

Well-Known Member
The following is a direct quote from the details on Amazon.
  • THE MOST SIMILAR LIGHT TO SUNSHINE: this grow light simulates solar spectrum by increasing yellow and green lights, buy a sun indoor for your plants
green light is pretty inefficient, i wonder why theyre making this claim. yeah plants dont "see" it, or use it, they reflect it and its not "used" by chlorophyll, but photosynthesis yadda yadda yadda. for 70 bucks it seems like a sweet deal, for 300 watts, but keep in mind 150 w cfls, things like that. i just like to look at all angles before a purchase. if its one thing i can pass on to newer growers is buying smart!
I'm going to just assume here but if it's 70 bucks then it's shit.

From my uneducated point of view, you are going to have to spend some cash for a good cob.
now I'm looking at doing a veg room with t5 bulbs. the best prices I can find for a 2x4 setup with like 8 4 foot bulbs is comparable to my 600 watt hid.

so to do a good CFL set up you will have to spend almost the same as hid. hid will give you way better yields .

I'm planning to do 4x4 feet of t5 over a 4x4 net. but this is just for veg. they will go under 1200 watts hps for flower.

I'm thinking you should just grab a 400 or 600 hid and get some finished product and go from there
 

Desr

Well-Known Member
I'm going to just assume here but if it's 70 bucks then it's shit.
see, thats what i thought but lol i wasnt too sure.

cfl is crazy cheaper than hid, what do you mean? i can go buy 2 150w CFL for like 40$ a piece, power strip like 5$, two utility clamp lamps like 10$, and a desk fan lolol call it a day around 100$

i havent looked recently but is there even a ballast under $100? plus a bulb, theres like $60, plus a fan to move all the heat you produce and ducting to put it where you need to. HID is far superior, also more expensive.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
see, thats what i thought but lol i wasnt too sure.

cfl is crazy cheaper than hid, what do you mean? i can go buy 2 150w CFL for like 40$ a piece, power strip like 5$, two utility clamp lamps like 10$, and a desk fan lolol call it a day around 100$

i havent looked recently but is there even a ballast under $100? plus a bulb, theres like $60, plus a fan to move all the heat you produce and ducting to put it where you need to. HID is far superior, also more expensive.
Down in the basement, really a big concrete box in the ground, where I grow I need all that lovely heat from my HIDs or I'd have to run a heater when the lights are on using LED or COB and that is the epitome of inefficiency. If the room doesn't get warm enough or humid enough my exhaust fan doesn't come on to pull in fresh air from the rest of the basement where it gets close to freezing in winter and never over 60F in summer. The plants quickly use up all the CO2 in there if new air doesn't come in and then growth ceases. I have a CO2 tank and flow gauge but no bux for a controller now but looking into it for early in the new year. Should be able to run it as a sealed room with CO2 and that would be fine with me.

I can see it now. 6" hose from the grow space going to a dehumidifier on top a big barrel that sucks the air from the grow room and blows it into the basement to get cooled while the cool air enters the grow room to repeat the cycle, Bonus: I get my $3/jug RO water back to use over again! :)

:peace:
 

Sneex

Well-Known Member
Okay so what exact cfls or hid setup should I get for a 3x3(ill be using it in this current box till I get my 3x3).. Probably growing 2 plants 4 max id assume.. So with hid like you said 400 or 600 watt but what and which cause obvly im light retarted lol also heat is a big issue due to no air conditioning currently where my box is where I'm staying currently unless I bring it into my room which I might do but it will be a bitch.. Due to the heat and shit is another reason I was leaning towards led or/and cfls I do have a CFL reflector for a big CFL that I'm not using atm because dont got the cash to get a bulb plus wanting to buy smart and only get shit that will work in this current box for now but basically buying shit for my 3x3 or a smaller space for 2-4 plants which I assume ill be doing just 2
 

Sneex

Well-Known Member
Like I said I guess I'm retarted when comes to lights idk what u mean by 600w convertible ventable cool tube or when u say 400 or 600watt "finished product and go from there".. 150w CFL for 40$ where?? I see them online for 60-150$ (100w and higher) I was surprised cfls even went as high as they do!! Sorry I might seem stupid but I'm not u swear ;) I hate it but I'm thinking to hard over thinking because I want to buy smart and not waste money cause I'm not made of money not even close lol this the CFL hood/bulb that I spoke about but bulb is broke and hood is attached to a 4-5 foot 2x4 it was given to me WP_20160925_002.jpg
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
convertible just means you can run metal halide and high pressure sodium bulbs in it, most newer electronic ballast will run both. ventable cool tube is an enclosed glass tube with an opening on each end so you can hook a fan to it to cool it.
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLRCT24E-Hydroponic-Reflector/dp/B00BMVPXL2
https://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Horticulture-GLRCT24E-Hydroponic-Reflector/dp/B00BMVPXL2
finished product and go....use a 400 or 600 watt hid light to get a crop in and make enough from it to buy more, better equipment

i'm usually not this helpful, but the dry ice hash i made from my white widow i just harvested was particularly good.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
for a 3x3, if you can cool it, i would recommend a dimmable 600 watt hid. run it at 50% for veg, 75% for early flower, 100% after the stretch
Not trying to pick a fight here or nothing Roger but that 75% during the stretch makes no sense to me. I have done daily monitoring of my ppm all during grows in DWC to monitor how much it drops as the plant use it up. Within two days of going into 12/12 the daily drop increases until about day 10 when it can drop 4x as much as it did at the peak of rapid veg growth. As stretch ends the drop slows until it's about the same as it was just before flipping. This indicates to me that if anything you run 50% in early veg then 75 as the plants really take off then go 100% during stretch and back to 75 for the rest of it if heat is an issue. If not 100% all the way! During stretch the plant is putting on huge amounts of new plant material and needs everything, including CO2 at max values, to get the best out of the growth spurt.

I just run it all at 100% until something blows. :lol:

:peace:
 

Desr

Well-Known Member
Then you should have quoted his post and not mine. I get confused easy in my oldfarthood. :)

:peace:
uh, i quoted your post so i didnt say the same thing as you. you misread thinking i just came out of nowhere talking about leds, not every post below yours is in response to you.bongsmilie
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Check out electrical supply stores wholesale/retail and not the big box or hydro stores for deals on things like big CFLs.

A place in Grande Prairie has these 5000K CFLs in 85 and 105W and they veg plants great! $45 and $54 each. A 400W HPS puts out about 50,000 lumens and the 105 puts out 6,900 so you'd need 7.3 of the 105s to get the same lumens and at $54 each it would cost $394 for seven bulbs alone not to mention the sockets and wiring to hook them all up and something to support them etc. They only penetrate about half as deep into the canopy and believe me one gets warm not to mention 7 of them so I doubt they are cooler to run than one 400W hps or mh. Those only need one shade, one socket and one cord and can be got in an mh/hps ballast with 2 bulbs for veg and flower for cheap online with Amazon or E-Bay. Magnetics are cheaper and much more reliable when buying cheap ones compared to cheap digital ones.

There's truth in the adage that you get what you pay for. A cheapo light system is fine for starting off and when you're on a low budget but once you are growing enough pot to meet your needs and want to better your growing then the money you save not buying crap pot should be going toward better gear. My wife isn't thrilled with my growing but everything I save goes half back to the house. She don't bitch. :)

CFL01.jpg

The biggest negative I've found with these bulbs is the standard socket base instead of a mogul base like they should have. It's not strong enough to support the weight of the bulb in a horizontal position without support. and CFL bulbs give off most of their light from the sides. I had that one in a shade from a street light I found lying under a pole somebody hit with their car and grabbed it for a shade. I bought an adaptor that screws into the mogul socket and takes the standard sized bulb, same as home use, then drilled two small holes in the shede so I could thread a nylon tie thru those and around a coil of the bulb to hold the end up. Worked great but the street light shade is made to focus the light 30 ft down and made a shitty shade for a grow light. I tried a 150W hps in it and it had two bands of concentrated light that crisped the leaves and any buds in their path. I'm sure I can pound those out so I'm not done with that shade yet! :)

I swear to Jah that I should write a book. :lol:

:peace:
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
unless you want to slow the stretch down, of course
I slow the stretch down by running my veg light thru the stretch. Usually in tandem with an HPS so they get the best of both worlds.
uh, i quoted your post so i didnt say the same thing as you. you misread thinking i just came out of nowhere talking about leds, not every post below yours is in response to you.bongsmilie
No Duh. Forget about it. :peace:
 
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